"Man alone has the chance to liberate himself from the wheel of birth and death, through the pleasant means of serving God…"
(SSS Vol. VI, page. 60)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is said that even devas existing in deva loka who can get whatever they think of, within a fraction of a second, envy human beings because, it is only we human beings who can actually taste the joy of God realization. Devas cannot experience “God realization” or “Liberation”.
If this one single factor is absorbed and taken in, all the pain suffered by us in all earlier and present birth is worth the joy of taking up spiritual sadhana sincerely and aim at retracing and reaching God, merging and existing as purely as He created us, which was understood clearly in the post “Why God created Man”.
I know that this expression SPIRITUAL SADHANA is a little scaring some times and heart of heart we are not able to relate whole heartedly to this expression. Why? Because we look at this term in isolation without understanding the essence of the same.
If only we are able to dive deep and steal the treasure (of Grand truth) that “we are actually marching towards the grand abode of Lord, prashanti, inch by inch, day by day, when we pursue a chosen path towards purity and perfection”, then we can easily understand that the same chosen path is termed by this world as SADHANA.
With the above grand treasure realized, what world calls as sadhana has to be taken up whole-heartedly, not as escapism from our miseries but with the most positive thought that we are actually galloping towards our Lord when we take up a spiritual path.
The foundation for our sadhana must not be taken up with the premise that we are impure, bad, egoistic, etc., but with the understanding that we are incomplete and we have to pursue a pure path to discover (I say discover and not attain because essentially we are pure and divine) the pure, divine soul that we essentially are.
In one of the talks, Brother Hari Subramanyam beautifully explains how an architect, a sculptor ends up with a never before, enchanting, divine sculpture of Krishna which appears as though Sri Krishna is present there, actually playing the divine flute.
People approach the sculptor and asks him, how did you manage to make this most wonderful, divine sculpture of the lord to which the sculptor answers with pure heart,
“Actually, I did not do anything much. I was just chiseling (cutting out) out whatever in the stone that was not Krishna and then, I found that Krishna was already there”.
So, dear ones, at the end of spiritual journey, when THE day must arrive in our life when we merge with Lord and become one with him, when our sadhana meets its fructification, we would realize that we have not attained anything which we already were not. We just chiseled out all that we were not and ultimately, we discovered within ourselves, that we were truly divine ever.
This is the most important conviction that we have to develop before taking up spiritual sadhana. We need not ridicule ourselves, look down upon ourselves, we need not peep into the wretched being that we might be at present and start the spiritual sadhana with a sinner like feeling!! We must believe what we would ultimately be, if we take up the spiritual path sincerely and to the satisfaction of our Lord.
And to grace us this conviction, we have before us, true stories of great masters in our sacred Bharath, who rose from different walks in the society, as normal human being like anyone else but they believed in what they essentially are, worked towards the same and attained perfection and have left back their foot print, their legacy, their success story in the path of SELF REALIZATION.
Here is one such master who speaks on His spiritual journey
“Sadhana [spiritual practice] is important. It will give you a comprehensive knowledge of life with all its currents and crosscurrents.
I worked hard in my life and attained something that gives me solace. I found out that life is mingled with sorrow and joy; both of these feelings should not be allowed to disturb the course of life.
A human being is not imperfect, but incomplete. Man’s essential nature is a limitless horizon. The call to inner Truth is present in him with all profundity, but his analytical logic is shallow.
A sadhaka has to go through a series of internal experiences. When a sadhaka’s convictions are filtered by the systematic and organized way of sadhana, the mind becomes penetrating and one-pointed.
Through constant contemplation and meditation, one begins having glimpses of the Truth, and these experiences strengthen his faith. Growing internally, that exclusive faith becomes the source of inner strength, enabling the aspirant to move along the path until perfection is achieved.
The human mind is complex with all its typical moods, manners, and weapons. The purpose of sadhana is to be free from the magic wonders of the mind and remain free all the time.
Freedom is a divine gift lent to mortals. A seeker of Truth should first have freedom from all time-honored taboos. Mental freedom is an accepted fact and is definitely higher than physical freedom. Free spirit is godly and alone can claim kinship with God.
The potential to realize the Truth is present in every person. In some it remains dormant, while in others it is awakened. The more one directs one’s awareness toward the Divine Force, the more one realizes the emptiness of the objects of the world. That realization helps one to withdraw one’s mind from the external world, and to compose oneself for inner exploration.
All sadhanas, all practices, are meant to purify and strengthen the mind that disturbs your being and prevents you from being aware of the Reality that is within you.
To be spiritual means to be aware of the Reality all the time, to be aware of the Absolute Truth all the time, and to be aware of the Lord within you all the time.”
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(Swami Rama)
